For the past 2 years I have been trying everything to make a plan and stick to it to lose weight. But I only last 2 weeks. Then something would happen or I would just need a binge. I don't know. Its like after years and years or dieting my body (mind?) has totally given up. I either stick to a plan but dont lose weight so go on a binge. Or I just cant stick to it long enough to lose weight.And recently I did 10 weeks of Slimpod. I was sooo amazed to finally stick with something more than 2 weeks. But when I found I didnt lose any weight AT ALL it all fell apart.
Now I feel crazy stuck. Half of me keeps saying to give up, learn to be happy at my current size, enjoy food and learn to eat "normal". But there is always that niggle that deep down I dont want to stay this weight. So once again I have cycled through ideas of trying Slimfast again, or 5:2 again or trying "eat like a bear" or "keto" for first time.
But I feel totally broken. Because forget trying something for 2 weeks. I cant even last an hour now! The second I start planning something my body (mind) rebels instantly, increasing all my urges and cravings and I just have zero control any more. I really feel like my body is screaming NO MORE. Which leads me back to thinking of giving up but just trying to make a few small healthier food choices (alongside my regular crisps, chocolate and ice cream snacking). And then I am back in the loop! Be happy giving up... but really?? Can I be happy giving up?
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CrimsonMama
Restart June 2023
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I can totally relate to what you’re saying! I’ve been in exactly the same place, feeling like I’ve spent my life dieting and where has it got me? Recently I joined WW and now go to a physical meeting rather than the zoom ones, which I felt gave me some accountability. But at this moment the thing that is helping me most is reading Chris Van Tulleken’s book about Ultra Processed Food. It has completely put me off pretty much everything I would normally binge on. Good luck!
Good morning PuzzleGirl, and thanks for joining in with us here at Weight Loss Support.
Quite a few people have mentioned the Ultra Processed Food issue. Good to hear the book is helping you to curb any binging.
It would be great to see you in some of our groups here on the forum. I've added a link to all the current ones at the bottom of my reply.
The Daily Diary is a great place to share daily menu and exercise plans. There are lots of different plans that people follow, and it really does help keep on track.
There are lots of other groups too, Weigh In, recipes, Fitness ideas, and the one thing they all have in common is the peer support they offer.
Have a look around and if you need any help just let us know.
I'm reading that to! It's so crazy what we put in our bodies! My daughter is pretty upset some of the changes I've made in shopping but I know it will be better in the long run!
Diet should be a way of life not a short term way of losing weight. You need to accept that some foods are actually unhealthy and that weight is just the obvious symptom while the hidden symptoms may be undiagnosed cardiovascular disease, nervous conditions, mental health problems, breathing problems or pre diabetes.
Avoid processed food, doing some simple workouts and drink plenty of water in the early morning time. These will supports to improving your weight loss goal.
I only drink water. And do cardio workouts 3 hours a week and weights 1 hour a week. I gave up sugar and processed foods for about 5 weeks and lost no weight at all. I make my meals and eat a quarter of it now, freezing the rest for portions another day. And fill the rest of the (small) plate with salad. My downfall is eating crisps and chocolate. But when I have cut those I still dont lose weight (not even one pound) and its not a life I want to live, struggling to avoid foods I want and finding "natural" healthy alternatives bland and boring. So I have gone back to eating more than I should (crisps and choc).
I did. But our GP system is so broken at the moment. They only care about "urgent" issues. They did a full blood work on me and only found my Vitamin D was low so I am on supplements to bring it back up now. Being on the depo injection masks any signs of menopause/hormone issues. So I have stopped it but it will take months to come out of my system. But I might have to go back on it if my periods return because I have endometriosis and mustn't have periods.
I feel for you. I lost lots of weight 5 years ago and it's very hard keeping that weight off. My daily energy intake is only about 1700 calories as l am short, so a couple of glasses of wine easily wreck that and l like wine! I have put a couple of kg back on which l am finding it difficult to shift.
It's hard to lose weight but if your food is mostly good healthy food try cutting the quantity. I was 53 when l lost my weight, l knew l couldn't transform my food habits. It's not just about losing the weight, if you follow a special diet there's another difficult adjustment to be made once the weight has been lost. I found cutting quantity hard to start with but less food quickly became normal and felt okay. I record my weight each week - that stops me going off the rails and l have only ever recorded the total amount of weight lost, l never focused on a weekly total. It took ages to lose the weight l needed to lose but l got there gradually. I used the NHS weight checker to help me. Try to see it as a long-term project rather than a speedy thing to get done.
You have done well keeping it off for 5 years! Wow! But it worries me that it is still a concious effort for you. I lost 6 stone a few years ago with lots of exercise and discipline. But as soon as I reached my goal and tried to live more normally the weight came back on. It was not sustainable to carry on the way I was. My kids were saying I was never there for them as I was exercising or out walking every time I wasnt at work.
How do I lose weight - or maintain weight- without missing out on life or being miserable?
Thats why everyone says losing weight needs to be a life style change not a diet. It has to be something you can do and stick to naturally without much effort.
I only drink water, exercise 5 hours a week (officially. More if you include on my feet at work and house chores). I make homemade meals using natural ingredients. Eat a quarter and freeze the rest. Eat salad daily for lunch or with dinner. These are changes I have made that have now become normal for me. My problem must be my sweet tooth for treats and eating too many calories. But I am sick of counting calories and measuring food! Its not a way of life I want to do forever!
It's a really personal thing, I had been overweight or obese all my adult life and I knew my weight was creeping up and up . Keeping my weight off is a conscious effort for me but I am okay with that, I know that's how it is for me - all my bad habits are hiding, they have not gone away. It will never be job done. I still enjoy food, we had a few big celebration meals this weekend, it will probably take a couple of careful weeks to correct but I will be mindful about what I eat and it is easier to be careful in the summer. I have not really banned any foods, it wouldn't work for me at my age, but there are foods I don't want to eat anymore. My motivation was that I lost someone close to me; I had been lucky enough to have good health all my life and I knew my weight was putting that at risk and it was something I wanted to avoid if possible. Something kicked in (it hadn't done so before) and my only objective was to be in the middle of the healthy weight range of the NHS weight checker. My downfall is wine - it seems to send my blood sugars crackers and it always makes me eat more, even if I've had dinner.
It sounds as if you are doing really well, maybe try to have have set days for treats. I ease up a little on Sunday's. Treats certainly can undo good work but even when I was losing my weight I had a small piece of homemade cake most days - just the one though. I wish you nothing but good luck and happiness. There is no point in feeling fed-up. Enjoy life.
I don't know if you can get a copy but I have just been looking at the BBC Good Food magazine for July. It has 8 weight-loss myths busted - it's a reassuring read.🙂
How do we do that Hidden ? I read books that said Fructose was all to blame and cut out Fructose. Nope. Didnt have ab effect on me losing any weight. I have read about insulin and other hormones, about the stress response and inflammation. About fastimg and keto and their effects on the body. And how the body works.I recently read a medical journal that basically said we are doomed. It says there is no real difference between any methods of dieting (its more about people finding what they can stick to) but the only thing that works is creatimg a calorie deficit. But for people who have been obese they have to continuously lower that deficit in order to lose and then maintain weight as the body is so good at adjusting to lower calorie intake. It basically said this number becomes so low that it becomes unsustainable (as it needs to be forever). There will never be a time when we can eat 2000 calories or so like a "normal" weighted person.
I am not 100% brought on this and am still researching. As I lost 6 stone in a year I know my body is/was capable of great change.
But I may have hormone issues to deal with now? Or I dont know why I cant lose weight like I did before. I think it may be stress related (the more I can't lose weight the more stressed I get about it and so it cycles round).
I am not even brought on the whole sugar causing obesity anymore (although the science made sense). Just because I am looking around and seeing people of all shapes and sizes eating all the food bombarding us and not everyone is obese. If it was as cut and dry as "sugar" or "carbs" or "fat" or "processed foods" why does it not effect everyone?
So you are totally right! It is obviously a massively individual thing.
Oh your so right. We can't blame carbs, fat, sugar or whatever. We get fat because of our relationship with food. Your initial post felt like it had been written by me 😞
In direct reply to your comment; “We can't blame carbs, fat, sugar or whatever. We get fat because of our relationship with food.”
I would say that obesity is multi-causal. Mostly about what one eats (not necessarily how much), and largely obesity can be blamed on overconsumption of processed food, and particularly sugary and carby foods - but it’s also about age, genetics, illness, stress, sleep, physical activity etc.etc.
And yes, relationship with food is one factor, but luckily one’s relationship with food is completely malleable unlike some of the other genetic and illness related causes. With the exception of a few people with very specific neurodiverse factors which influence what can and can’t be eaten, one can definitely change their relationship with food. Bee Wilson write quite a bit about this, I’m a big fan of her writing. “How we learn to eat” is a great book to help to understand and address one’s relationship with food.
Thanks for that. I shall have a wee look for that book. I'm very interested as I'm aware that I only began to binge eat following a personal tragedy, some 11 years ago. During the previous 40 odd years, weight and food issues didn't feature in my life. Thanks again 😊
Ah well, I think that after a personal tragedy we all need to make use of whatever coping strategies help us in the short term even if we know they are not great in the long term. I certainly have some less than desirable ways of coping when the going gets really really tough - and then I try to make up for it later when I’m feeling a bit more healed. Take care.
. . . or, at the ❤️ of obesity, . . . is 'HI' - the consequence of the 'fat storage hormone' becoming too high, . . . & in want of being reduced ??!
E.g. see the ytube vid "The Bittersweet Truth" by Dr P Jamnadas, . . . providing the clearest explanation of why certain approaches REALLY work for the majority, . . . & others just don't in the main ( - like low fat, calorie-restriction, . . . & even exercise at ⏳s !). Worth a close LOOK for all, . . . esp our overly 'busy' healthcare 'professionals' ! Link above!
Sid 😐
Sun 15 October 2023 - feeling the chill of an autumnal night !
Were there any more holes ? 🤯❓ And did I see them ? . . . & choose, or manage to avoid them ? 🤯❓
Alternatively, . . . that street was completely hole-free, . . . & paved in GOLD ? Perhaps, with a pick axe, . . . I lifted up one of the big gold slabs, . . . & went off to the nearby pawnbroker, being careful to fill in the indentation: wouldn't want anyone to trip on it ! 😄 😁 😆 ❗
" . . . no fate but the one we make" would seem to be bit of an oversimplification? ( - a line from one of the Terminator films ?!).
. . . thanks for sharing - see, pple DO read these contributions, . . . even with a ⏳ delay ! 🙂 🙏 🙂 About ⏳ I started reading a few short stories - like this one ! 👍 ✊ ✋ ✌️ . . . 😄❗ Nothing too elaborate . . . or lengthy ! 🙂
Sid 😐
Sun 15 October 2023 - feeling the chill of an autumnal night !
Hello Sid_Arthur. Thanks for your reply. Nice emoji use. Although I’m only semi-fluent in emoji language, so I may have misunderstood your messages 😂. I’d like to learn more but they keep adding new emojis!
I couldn’t watch your video, the link doesn’t work, but I imagine you are and advocating a low carb approach based on an understanding of how our bodies work if/when we eat too much sugar, starch and processed food? I agree, as do most people at the forefront of weight loss research these days. Perhaps I have misunderstood though.
I completely agree that low fat and low calorie diets are not usually useful for most people (especially those who already face metabolic challenges) and any kind of calorie counting is also not usually useful for people who struggle to manage their weight.
I don’t think that those of who face additional metabolic challenges will ever find big flat streets paved with gold. …..
….. but if we learn about nutrition and how our bodies work, and if we can cast off some of the myths about low fat and calorie counting approaches, and if we can apply ourselves and be gentle with ourselves on the journey, then we do learn to walk round the holes most of the time (not eat processed food and carbs food); and certainly to get out quicker and less injured if we do fall in sometimes (better and kinder recovery from a “lapse” in nutritional eating).
I’m very much enjoying the onset of autumn this year! Hoping for a long stretch of beautiful colours. 🍁🍂 Hope you enjoy it too!
. . . yeee-haaa, . . . glad you're there ( - & the reply isn't AI-generated !). 😀
I cld say 'you "are" brilliant, Prof !' . . . but, as I've been influenced by "E-prime" . . . I'd prefer to avoid that 'hole' . . . - and more pragmatically/?'eloquently' say 'Thanks Prof, . . . appreciated your considered & thoughtful reply ( - where you did seem to understand all said!).
The ytube vid can be found by its title "The Bittersweet Truth" by Dr P 'Jam...s' ! 😀 ✌️ 🙂 😀 - thank goodness. . . for this 'info age' !!!
. . . hopefully, 'finally' on the right-ish track, . . . thanks largely to that vid, . . . & the v useful pointers ( 👉... 👉 ... 👉 ...❗) in it ! And, it's ALL long-established biochemistry . . . in the main !
. . . look forward to reading & contemplating a few more short poignant stories, . . . over the coming cooler & COLDER months . . . given half a chance!
Sid 😐
Tues 17 October 2023 - feeling the chill of autumn, . . . SO, ... perhaps those 'clever scientists' have managed to turn-off 🌍bal warming ??!
Ytube vid: m.youtube.com/watch?v=6zZBi... - this is REALLY explaining the underlying PATHOLOGY of weight-changes, . . . & what can be done about it ! 😀 ✋ ✊ 👍
All the best,
Sid 😐
Sun 15 October 2023 - feeling the chill of an autumnal night !
CrimsonMama ,You are not alone ,the graph on my scales is up down ,up down .
I'm at my worst weight in ages ,I have just tried to change what I eat ,cutting out biscuits and eating more fruit during the day ,I have a fruit bowl on my desk.
. . . fruit may be ( - a too often !) not recognised issue, . . . by its high sugar content, fuelling existing 'HI' - as well described in the ytube vid above ! Hope that helps . . . ! ✋ ✊ 👍 . . .
All the best,
Sid 😐
Friday 20 October 2023 - milder, . . . & with enough+ rain !
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This Time I'm Doing It.
5/2 diet
Ive recently lost 2 stone and want to maintain now and not loose anymore. What do I do? 
Diet Starts Tomorrow...
i‘m done. I can‘t do this amymore
